FREDERICTON, NB -- Rookie Ben Corbeil of Granby, Que., scored the game-winner and added an assist as UNB struck for three goals in the final 10 minutes en route to a 5-2 victory over visiting McGill in the annual Pete Kelly Cup men's hockey game before 1,450 at the Aitken Centre, Sunday.

It was a cagey affair with the Redbirds holding leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before the UNB Reds rallied in the latter stages of the preseason contest. UNB, which had a 33-30 edge in shots, was 0-for-4 on the power-play, while the Redbirds went 1-for-2.

"Our guys played great and the final score doesn't tell the whole story.," said McGill head coach David Urquhart, whose troops performed admirably in a venue that is sometimes described as a graveyard for visiting teams."It was a hard-fought game and had the intensity of the playoffs. We showed lots of fight and played the right way, a tight-checking, team-first approach and there is lots to build from that."

McGill got the jump on UNB when a point shot from sophomore Mitchell Prowse of Kelowna, B.C., found its way through traffic and past Reds goaltender Samuel Richard of Ste. Catherine, Que., just 2:28 into the first period for an early 1-0 lead.

UNB tied the score late in the frame when Thomas Casey of Charlottetown, jammed the puck past McGill starting netminder Emanuel Vella, a senior from Toronto.

The deadlock was broken late in the middle stanza when sophomore Drew Bennett of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, fed a seeing-eye pass to Brandon Skubel, a native of Niagara on the Lake, Ont., to put McGill ahead with 5:47 left on the clock.

But a lost face-off on the very next play proved costly and UNB struck back just nine seconds later.  Brady Gilmour of Grafton, Ont., converted a nifty feed from Austen Keating of Guelph, Ont., to send the teams into the intermission knotted at 2-2.

"When we went up 2-1, we needed to be able to step on their throat there (but) they scored a quick one right away and that changed the momentum," said Bennett, an Arts sophomore who had two assists for McGill and earned the game's second star in front of family and friends visiting from Newfoundland.

Tied 2-2 with just over 10 minutes to play in the game, Corbeil gave UNB its first lead, firing a top shelf shot that beat goaltender Alexis Shank, who had relieved Vella midway through the previous period.

With McGill pressing for the equalizer in the waning minutes of the game, Cole MacKay of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., broke in alone and tallied the insurance marker, doubling UNB's lead to 4-2. Keating added an empty-netter at 19:30 to seal the contest.

Richard made 28 saves to collect the win for the Reds. Shank, who hails from Laval, Que., was charged with the loss for McGill. He made 14 stops over the final 30 minutes. Vella also was credited with 14 saves in his stint.

UNB (3-0) heads to Toronto next weekend for a pair of exhibitions against Toronto Metropolitan University, Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. McGill (1-1) will continue its preseason schedule with a home-ice rendezvous against the RMC Paladins on Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca